Welcome

[Voight-Kampff]

I'd first of all like to thank everyone who volunteered for this phase of testing, and welcome you to the private Errant Heart forum that PyTom has graciously created for us.

Before we get on with testing, I thought I'd take a moment to help everyone get their bearings in regards to this whole project. What is it? Where'd it come from? Where's it going? Who does what?

So far, the project has been worked on by three people. My duties primarily fall into writing, inking the final sprites and some CGing of the sprites - as well as some "direction".

@berration is responsible for character design, all the pencils for the sprites as well as CGing them, coding, direction and some BG work.

We've farmed out the meat of the BG work to a third person. And as you might have been able to tell from some of the finalized BGs, his work is quite stunning.

@berration and I have worked on lots of projects in the past. Our last project was definitely nothing like this - in either subject matter or format. And that's part of the reason why we're so keen on getting feedback from LSF.

Given our relationship with a manga publisher in the U.S., and given the fact that I know they've flirted with the idea of publishing VNs, I'd like to say this project has an outlet with them. But that was before they chopped out half of their staff, and devolved their OEL Manga line into little more than webcomics.

So will this title be commercial? I really don't know. To be honest, we're not working on this to make money. This is simply a story that we want to tell, and the format that we'd like to tell it through is a Visual Novel. If we end up releasing it for free, that really won't bother me. I simply want to tell the best damn story that I can and end up with something that people will enjoy and that I can be proud of.

[mysterialize]

Woah, woah. Holy crap. You guys are the people who made Van Von Hunter? I had no idea. I absolutely love your stuff. I feel extremely honored to be able to help you with this. Not that I wasn't before. This is just a nice, added bonus.

Also, this is pretty much completely unrelated, but I was actually a bit confused for a moment when I saw this board pop up. I was confused why you guys would get an entire section of the forums all to yourselves. Then I took off my stupid hat and the obvious answer hit me. I guess I just wasn't expecting it to be right here on the front page like that. XD

[Voight-Kampff]

Woah, woah. Holy crap. You guys are the people who made Van Von Hunter? I had no idea. I absolutely love your stuff. I feel extremely honored to be able to help you with this. Not that I wasn't before. This is just a nice, added bonus.

I'm glad you couldn't make the connection between VVH and the original demo. It means we were doing our job right.

[chronoluminaire]

Also, this is pretty much completely unrelated, but I was actually a bit confused for a moment when I saw this board pop up. I was confused why you guys would get an entire section of the forums all to yourselves. Then I took off my stupid hat and the obvious answer hit me. I guess I just wasn't expecting it to be right here on the front page like that. XD

I think the subforum will only be on the front page, or indeed visible at all, for people who the subforum admins (Voight-Kampff) have allowed to see it.
And yeah, I had no idea you guys had got a manga series published via Tokyopop either. Good to be working with you.

[Voight-Kampff]

I think the subforum will only be on the front page, or indeed visible at all, for people who the subforum admins (Voight-Kampff) have allowed to see it.

Correct. Although, PyTom's intent is to make this (and all private development) forums public one day - once development is completed.

And yeah, I had no idea you guys had got a manga series published via Tokyopop either.

I didn't want to taint anyone's initial impressions (for good or for ill) with the first release. But I figure it's something that will become known eventually. At the very least, everyone here may as well know now.

Although, I did consider going to greater lengths to cover up our involvement. Like making a shell company named Pseudonym Studio and assigning all credits and copyrights to it. No one would ever know it was us!

[CaesMRaenes]

Heheh. Wow. Talk about a surprise. It probably was for the better that you hid your identity for so long. You would've been treated like a celebrity here (although publicity is sometimes a good thing). But like all surprises, it felt good to be hit in the face with the fact and, well for me at least, it's time to play/test/make with the best of our abilities.

I simply want to tell the best damn story that I can and end up with something that people will enjoy and that I can be proud of.

Amen to that. With that kind of attitude, you're definitely going to release the best damn story you can tell up to this date. Seriously. I feel pumped to help out even a little bit. Let's rock their world like no other world we could rock!

[sake-bento]

I totally would not have seen this forum if you hadn't posted a note about it in the WIP thread. >.>

Anyway, hello. This is sake-bento, signing in. It's a pleasure to be working with everyone here. ^-^

[Voight-Kampff]

It probably was for the better that you hid your identity for so long. You would've been treated like a celebrity here (although publicity is sometimes a good thing).

Honestly, I was thinking quite the opposite.

Having been at "ground zero" in regards to OEL manga, my experiences tell me that, well...there's a distinct bias against the genre. Some of it, perhaps is warranted. But most of what I've come across are arguments like: "It's not real manga" or "Anyone who works in the field is just trying to cash in on manga's popularity". Consequently, I thought it best to obfuscate our involvement - at least, initially.

Perhaps I was being a bit gun-shy. After all, LSF is primarily filled with creative-types as well. One would think that if any group of people could understand the desire to create (in manga/anime-influenced story-telling and art), it would be the folks at LSF.

With that kind of attitude, you're definitely going to release the best damn story you can tell up to this date.

While I appreciate the enthusiasm, I don't think that there's anything definite about it. Technically, Errant Heart wasn't supposed to be started yet. It was an "advanced" title that was put away on a shelf - waiting for us to gain more experience before tackling it. Consequently, I have concerns about doing the story justice. But, all we can do now is forge ahead and do our best.

I totally would not have seen this forum if you hadn't posted a note about it in the WIP thread. >.>

Yeah, I kinda had a feeling about that. It's tucked away at the bottom. If one isn't expecting to see anything new, it could very easily be overlooked.

[sake-bento]

Perhaps I was being a bit gun-shy. After all, LSF is primarily filled with creative-types as well. One would think that if any group of people could understand the desire to create (in manga/anime-influenced story-telling and art), it would be the folks at LSF.

I think you made the right decision to keep it quiet (at least, initially). My experience has been that being a professional in a largely amateur/semi-pro community can lead to overblown positive attention (You can do no wrong!) and unwarranted negative attention (What's so great about YOU?). Your current work should speak for your skill already, and when whatever else you do comes out, then so be it.